NEW POLL QUESTION ADDED - Opinions on suspending the "exclusivity" rule during the VCC (Virtual Comic Convention) 4 4

[Get Marwood & I]

[Get Marwood & I]

Any behind the scenes news @DeadOne ?

[DeadOne]

36 minutes ago, Get Marwood & I said:

Any behind the scenes news @DeadOne ?

Nope.

[Get Marwood & I]

1 minute ago, DeadOne said:

Nope.

[DeadOne]

On 4/8/2019 at 12:41 PM, DeadOne said:

Now that the VCC this past weekend is over, I'd like to tag a few administrators and draw their attention to the proposal laid forth in this thread.

@Architecht @Scott =) @dena

Given the information, through the poll and the posts, do you believe it would be possible for the exclusivity rule to be suspended for the time period of the Virtual Comic Convention (VCC) and exclusively for those set-up at and within the VCC?

In the hopes that the administrators, @Architecht @Scott =) @dena will give this a serious look or at least pass this request along to whomever may be able to give us a final answer, be it yes or no.

[Architecht]

I've read the thread and seen the poll. Personally, I don't have much of a problem with a trial, although I'll stop short of saying that is a decision for the moment.

Just as reminder, the reason that the rule was made originally was that people didn't like going to ebay, reviewing a bunch of books, then coming here and ending up just paging through the same books. The feeling was that people who were buying were reviewing ebay anyway, so there just wasn't value in posting books both places.

Does that rationale apply to the VCC as well? Would people find it tedious to do their "regular eBay review" only to come here and wade through the same stuff?

 

[Get Marwood & I]

12 minutes ago, Architecht said:

Would people find it tedious to do their "regular eBay review" only to come here and wade through the same stuff?

Maybe not if they're posted cheaper here, to recognise the absence of fees? 

The poll support is there. Only one way to find out....

[DeadOne]

On 4/15/2019 at 4:49 PM, Architecht said:

I've read the thread and seen the poll. Personally, I don't have much of a problem with a trial, although I'll stop short of saying that is a decision for the moment.

Just as reminder, the reason that the rule was made originally was that people didn't like going to ebay, reviewing a bunch of books, then coming here and ending up just paging through the same books. The feeling was that people who were buying were reviewing ebay anyway, so there just wasn't value in posting books both places.

Does that rationale apply to the VCC as well? Would people find it tedious to do their "regular eBay review" only to come here and wade through the same stuff?

 

I've taken the last day or so to try and look back at past discussions on this topic.
What it seemed to boil down to, at least in the beginning when marketplace guidelines were being defined, was dealer vs. regular guy and a battle for marketplace real estate.
From what I've been able to find, most members who were opposed did not want the marketplace here to become a "dumping ground" for dealer stock that was also available elsewhere (eBay, etc.). The main concern seemed to be that these massive, never changing sales threads would take up valuable "front/first page" space in the marketplace, thus taking away from any sales that the average collector might have.

I do not believe this would occur with the VCC.

The way the VCC is set up now, there is no rush to claim valuable first page space. The sale space in the VCC is divided into 4+ separate selling areas (called "Halls" or "Aisles") and are limited to no more than 10 sellers per hall. Everyone for the most part has an equally visible space available to them as no one post or thread will ever bump the other into obscurity.
Also, the way the booths are required to be setup for the VCC is actually, imo, prohibitive to just dumping unsold/unsellable "dealer stock". People who have graciously setup at past VCCs will tell you that setup is more work than a regular sales thread.
If you care nothing about contributing to a CGC Chat Board tradition (like the VCC) or care nothing for more than free exposure for your eBay store, it will be clear very quickly that the VCC may not be for you. And when you consider that the VCC is literally 34 hours, 3 times per year, it seems even less likely that this will happen. It just won't be worth the time.

That said, it's possible that someone(s) will try to take advantage of this change, and we can deal with these instances on a case by case basis like we do with all other matters on this chat board.

Please remember that this is not a request to change the exclusivity rule across the board for all sales areas.
My intention for this idea was to create something special that might help drive sellers to the VCC. It is my thought that, more sellers brings more buyers, and in return would bring more sellers.

I think, and the poll numbers and comments in this thread seem to support, that it is worth at least a trial run for the remainder of the VCCs in 2019 (August 10th and December 7th)

On 4/15/2019 at 5:04 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

Maybe not if they're posted cheaper here, to recognise the absence of fees? 

The poll support is there. Only one way to find out....

I would hope a "board exclusive price or discount" would accompany these type of listings as well.
I do a lot of advertising for the VCC (some of it paid) and I would love to be able to advertise discounts like this when I send out the Index Of Sellers throughout the weekends of the VCC.

[Get Marwood & I]

Nicely summarised. Hopefully Arch has a diary card filed to remind him to pop back with a decision soon 

[Architecht]

Ok. Give it a shot on the next one and see what happens. If the jury is still  out, and people are unsure, we can try a second trial and then decide from there. @CCGmod0 and @CCGmod2 just a heads-up about this trial.

[DeadOne]

2 hours ago, Architecht said:

Ok. Give it a shot on the next one and see what happens. If the jury is still  out, and people are unsure, we can try a second trial and then decide from there. @CCGmod0 and @CCGmod2 just a heads-up about this trial.

Thanks Arch, and all who participated in the poll and the discussion.

[batman_fan]

I may be way off base here but I dont think exclusivity is the major issue with the VCC.  I have been on the boards since the 1st one and wwatching it over the years I can say there has been a long slow decline in both the people setting up virtual booths and the number of people buying.  Now it isn’t uncommon to see close to half the booths unfilled, just reserved.   Not sure what can be done to revitalize it, but I dont think this will make a big difference.

[DeadOne]

6 hours ago, batman_fan said:

I may be way off base here but I dont think exclusivity is the major issue with the VCC.  I have been on the boards since the 1st one and wwatching it over the years I can say there has been a long slow decline in both the people setting up virtual booths and the number of people buying.  Now it isn’t uncommon to see close to half the booths unfilled, just reserved.   Not sure what can be done to revitalize it, but I dont think this will make a big difference.

I will say that we have not had a large amount of people who claim a booth space and then not set up. From what I can see, the breakdown for the past 5 VCCs is this:

• VCC XLII: 20 booths, 2 no shows
• VCC XL!: 18 booths, 1 no show
• VCC XL: 23 booths, zero no shows
• VCC XXXIX: 16 booths, zero no shows
• VCC XXXVIII: 17 booths, 2 no shows

I cannot speak for the number of buyers, or the number of people who window shop (if you look at the booths right after they close, the sales are still happening), but there has definitely been a slow decline in the number of sellers. The biggest, noticeable drop off was when the boards switched from old to new in early 2017. This was also around the same time that Photobucket quit being a free image hosting site which caused most of us to quickly learn the new boards image upload. Although probably not the only factors, I'm sure these two things contributed quite a bit to the decline.
It's also the time that I volunteered to help with the VCC, so perhaps seeing me and not Donut and sckao (the two who always had) pulling it together threw some board members off as well.

If anyone cares to see a breakdown of VCC participation over the years, I've put it in spoilers below.

Spoiler

 

I've gathered this information from past "Index Of Sellers" threads. There may have been no shows of late setups that are not factored in. It's good enough to get the general idea of what attendance was like at past VCCs

• VCC XXLII - 20
• VCC XXLI - 18
• VCC XL - 23
• VCC XXXIX - 16
• VCC XXXVIII - 17
• VCC XXXVII - 18
• VCC XXXVI - 25
  ________________ board switch Feb. 2017
• VCC XXXV - 29
• VCC XXXIV - 35
• VCC XXXIII - 39
• VCC XXXII - 47
• VCC XXXI - 47
• VCC XXX - 49
• VCC XXIX - 37
• VCC XXVIII - 30
• VCC XXVII - 49
• VCC XXVI - 59
• VCC XXV - 48
• VCC XXIV - 55
• VCC XXIII - 43
• VCC XXII - 54
• VCC XXI - 46
• VCC XX - 45
• VCC XIX - 50
• VCC XVIII - 57
• VCC XVII - 48
• VCC XVI - 48
• VCC XV - no data
• VCC XIV - 73
• VCC XIII - 60
• VCC XII - 53
• no data prior to this

 

I don't really expect the suspension of the exclusivity rule to help return to prior "glory days" numbers, especially at first, but, for the purposes of the VCC, I can't imagine it would be a detriment.
Baby steps. 

[Buzzetta]

What is the file hosting service people are using these days btw... Photobucket is no longer an option... 

 

[batman_fan]

1 hour ago, DeadOne said:

I will say that we have not had a large amount of people who claim a booth space and then not set up. From what I can see, the breakdown for the past 5 VCCs is this:

• VCC XLII: 20 booths, 2 no shows
• VCC XL!: 18 booths, 1 no show
• VCC XL: 23 booths, zero no shows
• VCC XXXIX: 16 booths, zero no shows
• VCC XXXVIII: 17 booths, 2 no shows

I cannot speak for the number of buyers, or the number of people who window shop (if you look at the booths right after they close, the sales are still happening), but there has definitely been a slow decline in the number of sellers. The biggest, noticeable drop off was when the boards switched from old to new in early 2017. This was also around the same time that Photobucket quit being a free image hosting site which caused most of us to quickly learn the new boards image upload. Although probably not the only factors, I'm sure these two things contributed quite a bit to the decline.
It's also the time that I volunteered to help with the VCC, so perhaps seeing me and not Donut and sckao (the two who always had) pulling it together threw some board members off as well.

If anyone cares to see a breakdown of VCC participation over the years, I've put it in spoilers below.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

I've gathered this information from past "Index Of Sellers" threads. There may have been no shows of late setups that are not factored in. It's good enough to get the general idea of what attendance was like at past VCCs

• VCC XXLII - 20
• VCC XXLI - 18
• VCC XL - 23
• VCC XXXIX - 16
• VCC XXXVIII - 17
• VCC XXXVII - 18
• VCC XXXVI - 25
  ________________ board switch Feb. 2017
• VCC XXXV - 29
• VCC XXXIV - 35
• VCC XXXIII - 39
• VCC XXXII - 47
• VCC XXXI - 47
• VCC XXX - 49
• VCC XXIX - 37
• VCC XXVIII - 30
• VCC XXVII - 49
• VCC XXVI - 59
• VCC XXV - 48
• VCC XXIV - 55
• VCC XXIII - 43
• VCC XXII - 54
• VCC XXI - 46
• VCC XX - 45
• VCC XIX - 50
• VCC XVIII - 57
• VCC XVII - 48
• VCC XVI - 48
• VCC XV - no data
• VCC XIV - 73
• VCC XIII - 60
• VCC XII - 53
• no data prior to this

 

I don't really expect the suspension of the exclusivity rule to help return to prior "glory days" numbers, especially at first, but, for the purposes of the VCC, I can't imagine it would be a detriment.
Baby steps. 

I stand corrected 

[ADAMANTIUM]

11 hours ago, Buzzetta said:

What is the file hosting service people are using these days btw... Photobucket is no longer an option... 

 

I don't use a hosting service because the new boards will let you upload pics and gifs from you computer without the hosting service now....

Do you could just use the memory from a thumb drive or computer...

[skypinkblu]

11 hours ago, Buzzetta said:

What is the file hosting service people are using these days btw... Photobucket is no longer an option... 

 

Actually Photobucket revamped again. The insane pricing and silly rules are gone. I renewed mine a year ago because I didn't have time to move all my trip photos, but I rarely use it for here anymore.

[Buzzetta]

I would have to see how the new VCC threads are structured then.  I used to create rows of thumbnail sized pics with the listing beneath them and do it in blocks of four or five.   I used to set up a VCC year round in the test thread area and then cut and paste the code into my virtual booth come VCC time. 

If we are going to allow eBay listings at VCC then I could do one a night and edit things out of my test area as they sell on eBay. 

[skypinkblu]

It's harder to do rows unless you do ones that are not clickable, but doing thumbnails is a snap, just upload the picture and double click, it gives  you an option right on the page to make it smaller.

You can do rows of the thumbnails that way, but sometimes  they move around when you add more so you need to go back and fix them. At least I have found that, maybe someone else knows an easier path.

[Mr Sneeze]

1 hour ago, skypinkblu said:

It's harder to do rows unless you do ones that are not clickable, but doing thumbnails is a snap, just upload the picture and double click, it gives  you an option right on the page to make it smaller.

You can do rows of the thumbnails that way, but sometimes  they move around when you add more so you need to go back and fix them. At least I have found that, maybe someone else knows an easier path.

That’s pretty much been my experience aswell. I have found that uploading all the pictures to a post first and then start editing them for size works best. Now that I’ve gotten used to it I can’t imagine using photobucket again. I feel liberated.